MY FAMILY COMES FIRST.. APOLOGIES
devastated comic peter Kay is forced to scrap 112-date stand-up tour
PETER Kay stunned fans yesterday by scrapping his €100million comedy stage tour for family reasons.
The 44-year-old left more than 1.7 million ticketholders disappointed when he cancelled his 112 stand-up gigs – including all his dates in Dublin and Belfast – and other live events.
The Phoenix Nights star said:
“Due to unforeseen family circumstances, I deeply regret that I am having to cancel all of my upcoming work projects.
“This includes my upcoming stand-up tour, Dance For Life shows and any outstanding live work commitments.
“My sincerest apologies. This decision has not been taken lightly and I’m sure you’ll understand my family must always come first. I’m very sorry.”
The shock move left fans worried that he or a relative could be ill. One, Tabitha Ingham, wrote: “Peter Kay would not have made this decision lightly.
“I fear that either he or a close family member could be seriously ill, they should be left alone and there should be no nasty, vile comments. I wish him well and hope for good news.”
Kay’s hotly anticipated, year-long series of dates in Ireland and the UK were due to begin at Birmingham in April and reach our shores in January 2019.
The tour would have been his first in eight years. Refunds will be available. Kay, who married Susan Gargan in 2001, was expected to earn up to €45million from the gigs, with box office receipts reaching nearly €100million.
He already holds the record for the biggest-selling comedy tour ever after playing to 1.2 million fans in 2010. The Car Share star was said to have earned €22million from that. The cancellations come weeks after he added extra dates, due to huge demand.
Announcing his return to standup, he said: “I know how lucky I am to be making television series and have really loved these past few years working on Car Share, but I miss doing stand-up. As terrifying as it is, when it works there’s nothing more exciting. Plus, a lot has happened in the last eight years, with Trump, Twitter and my nan getting her front bush trimmed at the age of 96.”
There was no hint of any problems when Kay appeared on RTE’S Late Late Show last month. He told Tubs about how he likes to spend time in Ireland – and has even bought a house in Tipperary.
He said: “I’ve got a house, I don’t talk about it because I don’t want it to get robbed, but we’ve had a house here for 12 years.
“We used to come over and see family and drive around and then I said: “Why don’t we get a house here?”
“We got a house in Tipperary and so we come over quite a bit. We come over whenever there’s a school holiday really. We give Christmas a miss because the house is freezing and it takes ages to warm it up.”
Yesterday’s announcement won’t affect the final two episodes of his BBC1 sitcom Car Share, which he and co-star Sian Gibson announced last month. They have already been filmed and will air next year.
The Dance for Life events were scheduled for early 2018 in Coventry, Liverpool and Manchester. He was to become a DJ and turn large arenas into giant dance floors to raise money for cancer charities.
Bolton-born Kay hit the big time with Fans tweet their best wishes his TV creation, Phoenix Nights, about a northern social club. His alter ego, beleaguered owner Brian Potter, earned him legions of fans. He also wrote That Peter Kay Thing and Max & Paddy’s Road To Nowhere.
Kay took to the stage for the We Are Manchester concert in September, following the terror atrocity at the city’s Arena, where he once worked as a steward. He has a 13-year-old son, Charlie Michael, with Sue.